Koulan
(||Kou"lan) n. [Native name.] (Zoöl.) A wild horse (Equus, or Asinus, onager) inhabiting the
plains of Central Asia; — called also gour, khur, and onager. [Written also kulan.]
It is sometimes confounded with the dziggetai, to which it is closely related. It is gray in winter, but fulvous
in summer. It has a well defined, dark, dorsal stripe, and a short, erect mane. In size, it is intermediate
between the horse and ass.
Koumiss
(Kou"miss) n. [Russ. kumys; of Mongolian origin.] An intoxicating fermented or distilled liquor
originally made by the Tartars from mare's or camel's milk. It can be obtained from any kind of milk, and
is now largely made in Europe. [Written also koumyss, kumiss, kumish, and kumys.]
Koumiss has from time immemorial served the Tartar instead of wine or spirits.
J. H. Newman. Kousso
(Kous"so) n. (Bot.) An Abyssinian rosaceous tree the flowers of which are used as a vermifuge.
[Written also cusso and kosso.]
Kowtow
(Kow*tow") n. & v. i. The same as Kotow.
I have salaamed and kowtowed to him.
H. James. Kra
(Kra) n. (Zoöl.) A long-tailed ape (Macacus cynomolgus) of India and Sumatra. It is reddish olive,
spotted with black, and has a black tail.
Kraal
(Kraal) n. [D., a village, inclosure, park, prob. fr. Pg. curral a cattle pen; the same word as Sp.
corral. See Corral.]
1. A collection of huts within a stockade; a village; sometimes, a single hut. [South Africa]
2. An inclosure into which are driven wild elephants which are to be tamed and educated. [Ceylon]
Krait
(||Krait) n. [Native name.] (Zoöl.) A very venomous snake of India (Bungarus cœruleus), allied to
the cobra. Its upper parts are bluish or brownish black, often with narrow white streaks; the belly is whitish.
Kraken
(Kra"ken) n. [Prob. from OSw. krake, or ODan. krage the trunk of a tree, the branches of
which are not entirely cut off, to which it was likened by the Norwegian mariners.] A fabulous Scandinavian
sea monster, often represented as resembling an island, but sometimes as resembling an immense
octopus.
To believe all that has been said of the sea serpent or kraken, would be credulity; to reject the possibility
of their existence, would be presumption.
Goldsmith.
Like a kraken huge and black.
Longfellow. Krakowiak
(Kra*ko"wi*ak) n. (Mus.) A lively Polish dance. See Cracovienne.
Krameria
(||Kra*me"ri*a) n. [NL. So called after the German botanists, J. G. H. & W. H. Kramer.] (Bot.)
A genus of spreading shrubs with many stems, from one species of which found in Peru, rhatany root,
used as a medicine, is obtained.
Krameric
(Kra*mer"ic) a. (Chem.) Pertaining to, or derived from, Krameria (rhatany); as, krameric
acid, usually called ratanhia-tannic acid.
Krang
(Krang) n. [Cf. D. kreng a carcass.] The carcass of a whale after the blubber has been removed.
[Written also crang and kreng.]
